In Cameroon, parents don't name their babies right away. When I told this to a friend in the US, she exclaimed, 'What a good idea! They get to know the baby first, so they can choose a name that fits!" That isn't why Cameroonian parents wait, but it works for my blog.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Recently we ran into our good friend Tangko when he was with his wife, two of his daughters and three of his grandchildren. I was holding the baby, chatting with them, and decided to tease Tangko. I started to walk away, saying over my shoulder, “Since you have so many fine grandchildren, I think that I’ll keep this one.” Paul joined in the teasing, saying, “Let’s get a boy this time. I like this little one.” If only we had known…Tangko and his wife went home with very heavy hearts. Which child would we choose? How long would it be before they would see him or her again? They spent the next few days in long talks with their daughters, trying to decide which child to give us. Never once did they think of refusing. As Tango told me today, when we got it all straightened out, we have helped them a lot in the past, so they would never refuse us anything that we might ask. Even his two daughters were each prepared to give us a child. Sigh. Just when I think that I’m truly at home here, I do something that points out to me how much I have yet to learn.